Tchaikovsky on Charles

By Brennen Jensen | Posted 11/29/2000

It's a dank Saturday afternoon, and I'm standing before a parking lot on the 1200 block of North Charles Street humming "Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy." Why? Well, Christmastime will soon be upon us, and Tchaikovksy's ballet The Nutcracker (from whence we get the sugarplum-fairy ditty) is a holiday staple. 'Tis the season and all that. [MORE]

Blow Up

By Charles Cohen | Posted 6/10/1998

It's easy to spot Bubbie the Balloon Man wheeling his cart through Fells Point. Sometimes he's sitting down at the wharf near Piccolo's. [MORE]

Town of Bedrock

By Tom Chalkley | Posted 11/15/2000

What's the oldest stuff in Baltimore? Parts of the Mount Clare Mansion date from Colonial times; a handful of local Indian relics discovered hereabouts rattle around in archeological collections. But let's face it: In terms of what we generally consider antiquities, any one-horse Italian village has it all over Charm City. [MORE]

Telling Tales

By Charles Cohen | Posted 4/28/2004

Even At 85 years of age, even wearing pink slippers, there's something mighty about Mary Carter Smith, who has made her mark on Baltimore and on the nation as an African-American griot--a West African term that means oral historian, storyteller, and bringer of news. "The griot in the African-American tradition tries to pass on what is good to everyone in the family," says Smith, also known as Mother Griot, in her perfect storybook tone. [MORE]

Infantile Behavior

By Charles Cohen | Posted 12/31/2003

When Bob Hosier first strapped on a diaper and ran around his Hampden block dressed as Baby New Year in 1988, just as 1989 was being ticked in, he says he wasn't really looking for attention. "As far as I'm concerned, I did it for me and the family," says the 46-year-old Hampdenite. [MORE]